People often ask me how I knew about advertising as a career path. No one I knew was in advertising, we didn't have guidance counselors or aptitude tests at my high school, and my parents still aren't sure exactly what I do every day.
Yet, I left high school knowing this is exactly what I wanted to do - well, not copywriting exactly, that came after freshman year when I added English as my second major and was solidified after an internship in the account management department - but when I was looking at colleges I knew that I wanted to get into a good advertising department (go Gators).
Honestly, I think I got it from TV.
Remember how Jamie Foxx used to make up jingles at his job? Or Darren from Bewitched? Even Tom and Lynette on Desperate Housewives all had some sort of advertising job.
Here's a listing of some of the standouts.
Ad Men: 10 Movies and TV Shows About Advertising Agencies
If you're going
through "Mad Men" withdrawal, you're not alone.
While the popular
series is giving AMC lots of clout during talks of a high dollar takeover, new episodes of the AMC
series aren't slated to hit the air until March of next year!
But while you await
the return of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, there are plenty of past TV and
movie advertising agencies to tide you over.
Here's a look back at
10 old school TV shows and movies that feature advertising agencies:
"Bosom
Buddies"- 1980-1982
Agency:
Livingston, Gentry & Mishkin
Yeah, Tom
Hanks has come a long way. Back in the prehistoric days of his
acting career, Hanks donned a wig and stuffed bra so his sitcom character, Kip
Wilson, could rent in an affordable girls-only apartment house. To pay that
cheap rent, Kip-slash- Buffy worked as a graphic artist at Livingston, Gentry
& Mishkin ad agency. His equally lipsticked roommate, Henry, wrote copy for
the agency.
"Bewitched"-
1964-1972
Agency:
McMann and Tate
Even though his wife
was a witch and could zap up anything she wanted, Darrin Stephens insisted on
bringing home the bacon in this 1960s sitcom. Darrin was an advertising
executive at the firm McMann and Tate, where he received a daily berating (and
frequent threats of firing!) from micromanager boss, Larry Tate. ( You check
out some of Darrin's ads here.) By the way, who was McMann, anyway?
"Kramer vs. Kramer"- 1979
Agencies:
Roth, Kane and Donovan; Norman, Craig and Kummel; J. Walter Thompson
In this Academy Award
winning movie, Ted Kramer (Dustin
Hoffman) lost his job as an advertising exec at the wrong
time'"just as his estranged wife decided to sue him for custody of their
son. Two ad jobs (and two hefty pay cuts!) later, Ted may have been working his
way down the ladder of success-- but winning his son's heart was
priceless.
"Melrose
Place"- 1992-1999
Agencies:
D& D Advertising; Amanda Woodward Advertising
No one does
advertising quite like Heather Locklear! In the 1990s she played bad girl advertising
exec Amanda Woodward on the popular nighttime soap, "Melrose Place,"
giving new meaning to the phrase, "Sex sells."
"Who's
The Boss"- 1984- 1992
Agencies:
Wallace and McQuade; The Bower Agency
In this sitcom, high
powered advertising exec Angela Bower (Judith
Light ) hired a hunky male housekeeper (Tony
Danza) to do her dirty work -- and he even helped her out by
starring in a commercial for soap in one episode. Too bad he got a rash from
the product!
"Mr. Mom"- 1983
Agency:
Richardson Advertising Agency
When Jack Butler (Michael
Keaton) lost his engineering job in this John Hughes classic, his
stay at home wife ( Teri Garr) beat him back into the job market when
she landed a job at an advertising agency headed by a smarmy executive. But her
mommy experience helped her to come up with fam-friendly ad campaigns like
"Schooner Tuna: The tuna with a heart."
"Don
Rickles Show"- 1972
Agency:
Kingston, Cohen & Vanderpool
Comedian Don
Rickles starred as a stressed out advertising account executive in
this one season wonder (okay, 13-episode wonder) that featured a
pre-"Happy days" Erin Moran as his young daughter. The show tanked,
so luckily this hockey puck had his stand up career to fall back on!
"On Our
Own" 1977
Agency:
Bedford Advertising Agency
Queue up the Dorothy
Hamill wedge haircuts! This short lived ABC sitcom (if you blinked in 1977 you
missed it!) starred Bess Armstrong and Lynnie Greene as two New York
ad agency employees who shared an apartment.
"What Women Want"- 2000
Agency:
Sloane Curtis Agency
In this movie, Mel
Gibson starred as a chauvinistic ad man who, after a bathtub
accident, could suddenly hear women's thoughts. This made for some
chick-friendly ad campaigns-- and Sensitive Guy was born.
"Full
House"- 1987-1995
Agency:
J J Creative Services
Sure, Jesse and Joey
(John
Stamos and Dave Coulier) had other careers on this long
running series (Jesse was an exterminator while Joey was a stand up
comedian'" and these two clowns even hosted a radio show together) but
when they finally found their niche it was for commercial jingle writing. They started
their own agency just in time, because let's face it, were the Beach Boys
really going to let Jesse ride on their coat tails forever?
